Chef's suicide occurred days after restaurant sale

Eight days before he leaped to his death from the George Washington Bridge, Joseph Cerniglia sold his financially troubled Fair Lawn restaurant to a new owner, who is now embroiled in a legal fight over the proceeds of a life insurance policy and the restaurant's future.

Details of the sale and the ensuing legal battle with Cerniglia's former business partners emerged in papers filed in connection with a lawsuit in which the insurer is asking a federal judge to determine the true beneficiary of the $600,000 policy.

The Sept. 24 suicide of Cerniglia, 39, of Wayne drew national attention because of his 2007 appearance on the Fox network's "Kitchen Nightmares," in which the award-winning chef discussed the precarious financial state of his restaurant, Campania.

Court documents show that Cerniglia and his business partners, Kevin Wynn and Riccardo Botti, sold CWB1, the company that operated Campania, on Sept. 16 for $288,000.

It was purchased by Campania Holding Corp., whose managing director is Philip Neuman, who operated Momma's Gourmet Kitchen, a recently shuttered Paramus restaurant. Neuman claims in court filings that Campania may be forced to close if his company is not paid the $600,000 death benefit.

CWB1 took out the life insurance policy in 2005 on Cerniglia, who continued to be employed as Campania's chef until his suicide.

Neuman says his company is the only party entitled to the benefit. In a Nov. 19 court filing, Neuman wrote that business has suffered so badly since Cerniglia's death that the restaurant is in danger of closing. "If the company does not receive the policy death benefit within the next week or so, it will have no choice but to stop operations, lay off its 22 employees and terminate the lease," he wrote.

However, Cerniglia's former business partners — Wynn, who is Cerniglia's brother-in-law, and Botti — counter that Neuman breached parts of the sale agreement by failing to pay employees, vendors and other bills.

They contend that ownership of Campania should revert back to them and to Cerniglia's estate, as should the life insurance benefit.

"According to the contract, when there's breaches, the contract becomes null and void and the ownership reverts back," Anthony Fusco Jr., the attorney representing Wynn and Botti, said in an interview. Fusco said his clients were considering filing a lawsuit in state Superior Court challenging Campania's ownership.

Fusco's filing says Neuman has failed to pay employees, vendors and taxes. It also says he did not pay Cerniglia for the week he spent as a restaurant employee.

Neuman said he was negotiating with vendors and had sent a check to Cerniglia's estate for his last week. He also saidCerniglia and his business partners let unpaid sales taxes accumulate for a year, utility bills had not been paid in months and that the restaurant's landlord had started eviction proceedings because of unpaid rent. Neuman said he has paid some of the taxes and bills since taking over, and has negotiated a new lease with the landlord.

But after Cerniglia's death, "business dropped to almost nothing," Neuman wrote. He said in a Nov. 4 filing that he had spent more than $12,000 on advertising offering deep discounts on meals. (Advertisements for Campania were published in The Record after Cerniglia's death.) More than $25,000 in coupons were redeemed, meaning the restaurant continued to lose money despite a recent uptick in business, he wrote.

Neuman asked U.S. District Judge William H. Walls to grant his company the insurance money immediately, citing the restaurant's dire financial condition. The judge denied the request on Monday.

"Our view is very simple — this is a business, like many others, that had a key man. When the key man is gone, you have a life insurance policy for it," Neuman said in an interview. He intends to appeal the request and hopes to keep Campania operating. He also plans to hold a benefit for Cerniglia's three sons in December.

The lawsuit was filed on Oct. 27 by The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. It had received multiple claims on the policy and asked the court to determine the proper beneficiary. Its attorney did not return a phone call for comment.

Cerniglia's widow, Melissa, also made a claim but now "agrees that CBW1 LLC is the named beneficiary of the policy in question," her attorney, Michael J. Pasquale, said in a Nov. 19 letter. However, Pasquale noted that Melissa Cerniglia has raised numerous concerns about the sale to Neuman.

"She is being besieged by debt collectors," Pasquale wrote. "She has been contacted by the landlord of the business property and purveyors, all claiming that her late husband had personally guaranteed debts of the business. She had to pay over $2,500 to a medical insurance provider for premiums that were to have been paid by the company covering her late husband and their three children."

Pasquale did not return calls.

In an Oct. 6 interview with The Record, Neuman denied that he had ownership ties to Campania and said Cerniglia's family had asked him to help out at the restaurant after the suicide.

"We were in chaos," he said Tuesday. "We lost our chef. We didn't know what we were going to do."